This invention relates to a holding and dispensing device for electrical cable which is installed to carry electricity in building structures. The cable construction generally includes a sheath covering two electricity carrying copper strands plus a ground wire. For most constructions, the sheath is a non-metallic plastic covering such as for the commonly used ROMEX cable. For some building codes, particularly for certain industrial installations, metallic sheathed cable, generally known as BX cable is used. For the purposes of this specification the term "cable" is intended to include all such types of electrical cable and wherever the trademark ROMEX is used, it is intended that the other types of cable may be used interchangeably. The device of this invention is intended to hold a cable and dispense it in a fashion convenient and useful for electricians working within the building structure to install the electrical wiring system.
Most electrical wiring for houses, buildings and like structures is installed in buildings before they are completed. Typically, the building contractor will have laid the foundation, raised the studs, joists and rafters, covered it with a roof and siding, but will not have completed the flooring or the interior paneling, ceilings, plastering and the like. Therefore, as the electrical contractor or electrician arrives to install the cable from junction box to junction box to switch and finally to the circuit breaker or fuse box and the main line, the exterior of the house or structure has been completed, but the interior is in a rough condition. Joists and rafters are exposed and depending upon a variety of factors, the floor or ceiling above the joists will sometimes be covering it or it may be open or partially open. Therefore, the joists or rafters may have the tops exposed or they may be covered completely without the control of the electrician or electrical contractor.
The cable is generally available and is purchased in a variety of packaging forms. While reels of wire are available containing 500 to 1,000 feet of cable, no satisfactory handling and dispensing device is available so that ROMEX cable is typically purchased in 250 feet lengths rolled in boxes. It is not practical or feasible to use the wire by merely pulling it from the box as it will snag and become entangled causing great inefficiency and delay. As a result, a common practice is for the electrician to carefully uncoil the wire from the box and lay it across the floor in 30 foot lengths back and forth until the box is emptied. In this fashion, the cable is criss-crossed across the floor and used until that length is gone or until the job is completed wherein the wire must be folded up and carried to the new job. Since the box contains only 250 feet there is a stub end lost and discarded for each box. This entire process is inefficient, is a safety hazard, requires extra time and results in a significant loss of material.
ROMEX cable is also available on reels containing at least 500 feet and typically 1,000 feet of cable. The reels vary in shape ranging in sizes 20 inches to 27 inches in diameter and twelve inches to about 17 inches in length. A one inch to three inch hole the length of the reel is provided to hang and store the reel.
Reel holders for use on the job are available. These generally consist of a low platform with adjustable rollers between which the reel is placed. As the wire is unrolled, the reel turns on the rollers not unlike a roller mill construction. This system is undirectional and as the reel empties, it is pulled off the holder and rolls toward the electrician off the roller causing an interruption in the work. At that time it is necessary to unroll the wire from the reel and use the method described above to handle the cable. Typically, the electrician is forced to carry the reel from place to place throughout the building and constantly move the reel position within the room so that it is available to be threaded the various wood or metal components of the structure.
Because of the lost time in handling the boxes or of the cable there is a great need to provide some sort of dispensing device which will be convenient for the electrician, allow more than one electrician to use the same reel, prevent snarling and have the reel available as the electrician moves from place to place within the structure.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a reel holder that will receive the rolls and suspend them off the ground or the floor where the electrician is working.
It is an additional object of this invention to provide a reel holder that will feed the wire in the direction in which it is pulled without causing the holder to jam or drop the reel.
It is an additional object of this invention to provide a reel holder that can be adjusted to varying heights depending upon the height of the ceiling or the roof and hold the reel at the level where the electrician is installing the cable.
It is an additional object of this invention to provide a reel holder that will attach to the exposed rafters and joists used in the construction of buildings and exposed at the time the electrician is installing the cable.
It is an additional object of this invention to provide a cable holder which will hang over exposed joists or rafters before the flooring or roofing is installed but also have the capability of attaching to the rafters or joists after the flooring or roofing has been installed on top of the rafters or joists.
It is an additional object to provide a cable dispenser which provides a safe, quick and efficient way of dispensing cable without the necessity of removing it from the reels.